Chapter 37: The Greedy Deceiver Part 1

Back home, Xie Moluo directly pulled Lian Mei to sit on the sofa.

“Alright, tell me. What do you want to say?”

Lian Mei blinked, trying to change the subject. “…Honey, I’m so hungry. My stomach’s been growling. How about we eat first and talk on a full stomach?”

Xie Moluo refused. “No. Problems need to be solved promptly, not put off. You said you had something to tell me. What, having second thoughts now? Don’t want to tell me anymore?”

Xie Moluo grabbed a corner of Lian Mei’s clothes, clutching it tightly in her fist. “I don’t care. You have to tell me now. You promised you wouldn’t deceive me anymore.”

Lian Mei’s eyes kept darting away, which only deepened Xie Moluo’s worry. What could be so bad she’s afraid to tell me?

Xie Moluo tightened her grip on the fabric, staring fixedly at Lian Mei, but her heart was silently begging for Lian Mei’s secret not to be too terrible.

“Just say it. I know a thing or two about you by now. As long as it’s not too much… I… I…”

Xie Moluo repeated the word “I” several times but ultimately couldn’t finish the sentence. She just stared at Lian Mei in silence.

If Lian Mei has gone too far, I will still choose divorce. It’s just… these past two days, I could clearly feel Lian Mei getting better.

Xie Moluo lowered her gaze and pressed her lips together tightly.

Can’t this goodness be permanent?

Lian Mei was lost in thought for a long time. Honestly, she was feeling a bit impulsive. When she’d said it, she just didn’t want Xie Moluo to hold a grudge forever. Yet now that it was time to speak, she didn’t dare.

Lian Mei’s silence made Xie Moluo’s heart sink. She released Lian Mei’s clothes, forcing herself to look natural. “If you don’t want to say, forget it. I’m tired today. I’m going to my room to sleep.”

With that, Xie Moluo stood up to leave. Just as she rose, a warm hand grasped her wrist and pulled hard. Xie Moluo was caught off guard and landed on Lian Mei’s lap.

“I’ll tell you.” Lian Mei said, her voice heavy.

Sitting on Lian Mei’s lap, Xie Moluo turned her head to look at Lian Mei, waiting for her to speak.

Lian Mei: “Have I changed much these past two days?”

Xie Moluo paused, then nodded. “Yes, a lot. So what’s the reason you’ve gotten better?”

Changing so drastically, being so good to me… Did someone tell her something? Or is she deceiving me again?

Lian Mei placed a hand on her own face and asked, “Do you like this face?”

What a pointless question. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have fallen for Lian Mei at first sight, all because of her looks. Xie Moluo nodded. “Yes.”

Lian Mei: “Then, did you like the old me?”

Xie Moluo fell silent.

After three months of marriage, she had a general idea of the kind of person Lian Mei was. Why she’d stayed in this marriage, Xie Moluo didn’t know.

Perhaps she thought Lian Mei would one day mend her ways?

It seemed now… she might have finally waited for that.

Xie Moluo told the truth. “I like the you from these past two days.”

I like this Lian Mei, whose eyes hold affection when she looks at me, the Lian Mei willing to have physical contact with me.

Xie Moluo didn’t understand why Lian Mei was asking all this. She was about to tell Lian Mei to stop beating around the bush and just spill it when she heard something that instantly made her lose focus.

“That’s because I only transmigrated here two days ago. Two days ago, I replaced the original Lian Mei and appeared before you.”

What did Lian Mei just say? She transmigrated two days ago? She’s a Transmigrator?

Xie Moluo’s eyes widened, staring at Lian Mei in disbelief. Then, she shook her head. “Don’t joke around. If you really don’t want to say it, I won’t force you. Tell me when you’re ready. Falsehoods like that… you shouldn’t say them in the future.”

After speaking, when she met Lian Mei’s slightly furrowed brow, a part of her felt that Lian Mei might be telling the truth.

But this is too absurd, isn’t it? A novel really come to life! Transmigrators exist? Is this still the world I know?

Xie Moluo’s rejection was too obvious. Lian Mei felt a sting in her heart. “Xie Moluo, you know I’m not deceiving you right now. The night you came to the Bar to find me, that was right after I transmigrated.”

Xie Moluo stammered slightly. “How… how is that possible? Doesn’t transmigration require the body’s original owner to be dead? This… Lian Mei… did the original Lian Mei die?”

Lian Mei shook her head. “My type is different. The people I replace go to a better world to live. And their body… it will forever be mine.”

Xie Moluo shook her head again. “It’s too Fantasy-like. How could this be…”

After three months of marriage, my spouse tells me she’s now a different person, a Transmigrator, just using my spouse’s body.

Lian Mei carefully held Xie Moluo’s hand. “From now on, I am her. I’m very well-behaved and obedient. I won’t—”

Xie Moluo abruptly pulled her hand free from Lian Mei’s grasp, stood up from her lap, and stared at her in a long, heavy silence. Finally, her voice bitter, she said, “If it’s really as you say, that you’re a Transmigrator, then you came here to do a mission, right? You came to this world, and what’s your mission? To win me over? To get me to like you? And when the mission is done, you’ll leave this world, leaving me here alone?”

“Isn’t that too selfish?”

She’d read a novel before where the protagonist traveled through multiple worlds. Every time a mission was complete, they’d leave the Mission World the very next day and go to a new one. Was Lian Mei like that?

Lian Mei’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Xie Moluo to ask that. Every time, she transmigrated as an animal. Her only mission was to live until a natural death. The scenario Xie Moluo described was completely unrelated to her.

Lian Mei shook her head. “I have no mission. I’m just here to live a good life. Unless I die, I won’t leave this world.”

This is my Retirement World. I’m here to retire. I don’t have to do missions anymore.

Upon hearing this, Xie Moluo said slowly, “Then… these past two days, the way you’ve treated me, was it all genuine?”

Lian Mei nodded. “Sincere and true, without a single ounce of pretense.”

Lian Mei reached out to take Xie Moluo’s hand again, but Xie Moluo stepped back, avoiding her hand.

Lian Mei lowered her eyes to her own hand, grasping at air. She slowly withdrew it. Looking dejected and somewhat pained, she said, “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. Don’t be afraid.”

Xie Moluo stared blankly at Lian Mei, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I think I need some time to process this… I just remembered I have something to handle, so I’ll leave for now. Goodbye.”

Xie Moluo picked up her small bag from the sofa and turned to go.

Seeing Xie Moluo about to walk out, Lian Mei quickly stood and grabbed her. “Where are you going? Didn’t you say you had no activities today?”

Xie Moluo turned and looked down at Lian Mei’s hand without speaking. Lian Mei followed Xie Moluo’s gaze to her own hand, and immediately felt a tightness in her chest. She withdrew her hand and said hoarsely, “This is your home. If anyone should leave, it’s me. You stay and rest well.”

Disheartened, Lian Mei went to the entrance to change shoes. Before she closed the door to leave, through the crack, she saw Xie Moluo still standing there dumbly, looking down at the arm Lian Mei had grabbed.

Lian Mei’s heart felt unbearably heavy. Pursing her lips, she shut the door.

‘After learning my true identity, you’re this disgusted by me? You liked… the original Lian Mei that much?’

Lian Mei took the elevator down to the first floor and wandered aimlessly through the residential complex.

Her mind was completely blank. She had no idea what to do or where to go.

“…Meow… meow… meow…”

A faint cat’s cry reached Lian Mei’s ears. Her steps halted, and she walked toward the source of the sound, stopping at the waste sorting point.

Her gaze swept across: Hazardous Waste, Kitchen Waste, Recyclables, and Other Waste.

Lian Mei stood in front of the Hazardous Waste bin, staring at the large bin, deep in thought. A cat was thrown into the hazardous waste bin?

“Meow… meow…”

Help me… help me…

The old Lian Mei would never have bothered with something like this. Just living out each world, completing the mission, was enough. But now, perhaps because she was using a human body, her heart felt much softer, her kindness surging.

There was a human saying: Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.

Saving a cat should also count as a merit entry in the records at King Yama Palace.

Finding two tissues still in her pocket, Lian Mei held one in each hand and began rummaging through the Hazardous Waste bin. She quickly found what she was looking for. Just as she was about to pull out the black bag containing the cat, she saw a Little Girl run over, toss a bag of kitchen waste into that bin, and then stand nearby, staring at Lian Mei.

Lian Mei wasn’t used to being watched, especially by a child, and asked, “What are you looking at?”

The child didn’t speak.

Lian Mei was about to tell her to leave, but before the words could come out, her stomach growled again, this time very loudly and persistently.

“Grumble! Grumble, grumble~~”

Lian Mei: “…”

I need to eat!

A piece of Chocolate appeared before Lian Mei’s eyes. The Little Girl simply tucked the Chocolate into Lian Mei’s pocket and even patted the pocket, saying seriously, “Big Sister, if you’re hungry, eat Chocolate. Don’t eat garbage. It’s not clean, and you’ll get sick. It’s really painful.”

“Nuan Nuan—” Hearing her mother’s call, the Little Girl waved goodbye to Lian Mei and ran off, leaving Lian Mei alone, staring blankly into the wind.